


What The Hell is a Titan?

by Mayumi_chan



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Backstory, Bisexuality, Canon Era, Comedy, Confusion, Drama, Eren Travels Back in Time, F/F, F/M, Future, Hanji is a Scientist, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Trying Not to Focus Too Much On the Romance, Interrogation, M/M, Manga Spoilers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV First Person, POV Multiple, Past, Slow Build, Slow To Update, Switches Between Future and Canon Era, Time Travel, sort of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-18
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-04-21 08:02:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4821500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mayumi_chan/pseuds/Mayumi_chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the year 2150 and renowned scientist Hanji Zoe has finally perfected a time machine. Hanji uses it to send Eren back in time. So what happens when he gets stuck in the era of the Titans? Mythical creatures that Eren hadn't heard about since he was five. Eren ends up meeting people who look exactly his friends from his time. Including himself. He doesn't have a clue what to do, nor how long it will take his Hanji to get him back to their own time period. He's not trusted and just wants to go home. This was all too weird for him. How is he going to survive in this place where death seems inevitable?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Time Travel

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there, lovelies! I should really stop starting fics and finish at least one of my current ones! Haha... *sighs*
> 
> Anyways, thank you for clicking! I promise you it'll be worth it! <3<3<3 
> 
> Comments, Kudos and Bookmarks are always appreciated! Please leave feedback! cx Anyways, enjoy the chapter! ^/3\^)
> 
> Hmu on Tumblr ^0^): idiocyonaplate.tumblr.com

“Is it really finished, Hanji?” I ask eagerly. Hanji Zoe has been working on this for nearly nine years now, and I couldn’t believe it was actually ready to start _real_ testing. She’s only 22, can you believe that? A natural born genius.

A time machine… People have been dreaming about it since the 1900s. And now, finally, in the year 2150, it’s happening! A machine able to bend the space time continuum! And I’m honored to be a part of it. I’ve worked under Hanji's guidance for two years now. I guess you could say I’m her helper. Or guinea pig. I let her test things on me, and other time, when she needs materials I get them for her.

“Yes it’s finished!” Hanji squeals loudly, continuing to pull me not-so-gently by the arm and to her lab. I didn’t mind it, though. If this really works then this will be man’s greatest discovery! I always knew she’d do it. I never once doubted her. “Eren, this is actually happening!”

“How do you know if it’s working?” I ask.

“Well, earlier Levi came into my lab as I was finishing up,” she starts. “He said, ‘Hey, Shitty Glasses, I need your opinion on this.’ So we talked while I finished and he left when I screamed. So, just to make sure it worked, I brought time back five minutes to see if Levi would come in again. He did, and said the exact same thing, then asked me the exact same question. Then I screamed earlier this time so he just gave me an annoyed look—but I did it! I might even be able to stop time, but that’s a test for another time. I need to test bringing humans back in time.”

And by testing more humans, she meant me. I was excited.

“So, as you know, this time machine is different than how most people of the past have imagined it,” she starts. “I’ll give you the controller with the dial, yeah? With the date and the time and such, and I’ll send you back however long. To get back to the present just press the big red button underneath the dial. Once we’re sure it works with no problems, it’ll be time for the _real_ show. I’ll be able to send you back centuries!”

“I’m happy to help!” I say with a two-finger salute and a grin. She hugs me.

“We’re really doing this, Eren,” she says with a small laugh.

“It’s all thanks to your genius this is possible,” I say. “Sure, Moblit and the others helped too, but none of this would have even been possible without you. You’re going to change this world.”

“This is why you’re my favorite helper,” she laughs, ruffling my hair. “Just don’t tell Moblit~.” I laugh.

“Cross my heart,” I grin. She sighs contently. Somehow she’s a lot calmer than I expected. Usually with every little discovery she’s extremely boisterous. But I guess she must be tired from working so long.

She leads me into the lab and I stand on the platform. Attached to the platform was a metal pole which held a dial pad. Hanji could monitor my whereabouts and communicate with me. She’ll me a phone that will work no matter what time period I’m in. I could be around _fucking dinosaurs_ , and we can communicate through this phone She’s just that good. There’s also a belt. The belt is basically my own portable time machine, you can say. It’s connected to the controller. Now the controller is what _I_ can use to control where I go. If it gets destroyed in a different time period who _knows_ how long it will take for Hanji to get me back home. But I’m a careful boy. I may only be 16, but I’m pretty responsible. When I actually use my head, that is.

I’ve been interested in science and stuff since I met my best friend Armin Arlert, when we were five. He showed me some book his grandfather got for him and then that got me interested in it, too. Armin and I met Hanji through Levi Ackerman. Levi is 21 years old and goes to The Legion, or, Scouting Legion University. It’s an odd name but an incredible school. Extremely hard to get in. But one day I’m going to go there, too. I know Levi from his job at Starbucks. I actually had a crush on him for a long time. We went out for a little bit, but our age difference was a problem. Mostly because he had a more mature view on everything. We ended up splitting. Sometimes I wish I was older so we could still be together, but it was for the best. Plus I kinda like this guy named Jean Kirschtein? Even though I hate Jean. And he hates me. But he likes me, too. Which is why we aren’t dating.

Anyhow, I have another best friend. Her name is Mikasa Ackerman, is very proud of what we’re doing, but she doesn’t like the fact that I’m the “test subject.” She thinks it’s too dangerous but really, I can protect myself. I trust Hanji. I don’t think she’ll make any mistakes that can harm me. If I do get harmed, it will most likely be because I don’t often think things through.

“Are you sure about this, Eren?” Hanji asks me seriously. “I don’t think anything will go wrong, but if you feel uneasy then you don’t have to do it.”

“What? Of course I’m okay, Hanji!” I laugh. “I trust you. I know this’ll work, I can _feel_ it.” I give her a reassuring smile and she smiles back.

“Well then, get ready! I’m only sending you back 25 minutes, okay? Make sure you use the controller to get back so we know it works.”

“I know, I know,” I chuckle. “Now let’s do this!”

“3, 2, 1… Go!” she presses the button and I shut my eyes tight. I can hear a whirring sound but I can’t tell if it’s the machine or in my head. When I open my eyes again I’m in the cafeteria, which is where I was before Hanji came to get me. I peek in, and it’s so weird. I can see myself sitting with Moblit, eating lunch. What a strange thing, watching yourself. A minute later Hanji comes running in, pulling me… 20-minutes-ago me, out of my seat while talking fast and excited. I smiled. Hanji was like the sister I’d always wanted. I look down at the controller and then take a deep breath. I squeeze my eyes shut and press the button that should take me back to the “present” time. I hear the whirring again. When I open my eyes Hanji is standing in front of me, much closer than I expected and I nearly fall off the platform.

“So?” she asks eagerly. “Did it work?”

“It did!” I say, hugging her. “Hanji, it really worked! I watched myself. I saw you dragging me out of my seat just like it happened. It was so weird but it was amazing. Hanji, you did it!” We cheer and jump and then call the rest of us. Moblit, Levi, Armin… Hanji even lets me invite Mikasa. Jean came, too. Mikasa probably invited him.

So we told them about the machine and its success. Levi suggested to have a party in celebration. Everyone was surprised that Levi of all people suggested it, but of course that just pumped us up even more. So we went out and to Golden Corral (because that’s my favorite and Hanji is a blessing) and pigged out. Later Levi let me have a little alcohol. It was a great night.

* * *

 

Over the next several months we tried going farther and farther back in time. One year, 5 years, 20 years… It was amazing. I almost ran into my mom and dad once. That was freaky.

The farthest back I’ve ever gone before is 1707. It was very different from today, of course. With how much technology has advanced it’s a no brainer. Hell, even 20 years ago looked way different. 2015 looked _way_ different. The technology that was new then looks so ancient now! And the longest I’ve ever stayed away from my own time period was a month.

Anyways, now Hanji wants to go even farther. Farther than I’ve ever gone before. She wants to send be several hundred years back. Thousands, even. The risk was all the same. We’ve already tested that the equipment works in times of no technology.

I hugged Mikasa and Armin tightly. Levi gave me a kiss on the cheek and I smiled to him. Jean and I stare at each other for a moment before we kiss once. One quick peck before I get on the platform. Hanji and Moblit check the equipment one more time before sending me off.

“Take pictures,” Hanji reminds me. She has me take pictures of every place I go to. I smile and nod. I have my laptop and portable charger. The thing can last me up to a year even without technology. I’ll be fine.

“I love all of you,” I say. “See you whenever I get back!” I wave as Hanji sends me off. I don’t close my eyes anymore, either. It’s almost like I’m floating in nothing but blue light. It’s a really beautiful sight. I’ve never once gotten caught, no matter where I land.

I look around once an actually scenery appears before me. It looked like a regular old room. I wonder if Hanji sent me as far back as she wanted? I look at the controller. It’s set to 844. Wow, she really did send me back far… I look out of the window. It’s a beautiful day. I wonder where I am. An abandoned old house maybe?

I walk around, looking around. I ran my hand over some books. Everything looked clean. Not a speck of dust in sight. I take out the phone Hanji gave me and take pictures of the room before pocketing it. So someone definitely _does_ live here. Eren should leave before he gets found out. There didn’t look like there was any place to hide, though. He spots a bookshelf and lets curiosity take over, picking one up and flipping through it. He takes a few pictures of the books. Their titles, and authors… Suddenly the door slams open.

“Oi, who the hell are you?” comes a deep voice. I drop the book I was holding, and turn around. Shit! I can’t believe I was so careless. I couldn’t see the guy’s face because it was covered with… some sort of handkerchief. He was also holding a duster which somehow amused Eren for a short moment. He was about Levi’s height. Hopefully he wasn’t too strong if things got physical. I don’t say anything as I turn and try to make a run around.

I don’t know when he got so close but he was suddenly behind me. He grabbed my hoodie and yanked me backwards. I started to fall back but he grabbed me by the front of my shirt and oushed me up against the wall.

“I said—what the hell? Eren it’s just you,” he sighs, letting go. He stagger away and stare at him.

“Wha—? Who are you?” I ask, pressing myself up against the wall. He rolls his eyes.

“Don’t play dumb, it’s not funny,” he says. “I thought you were doing experiments with Hanji. And what the hell are you wearing?”

“Wait, _what_? You know Hanji, too?” I gape. He stares at me like I’m crazy and pulls the mask down.

“L-Levi? Why are you _here_?”

“Eren, you’re acting really weird,” the Levi-look-alike says. “And you look different…” The man narrows his eyes. “Who the hell are you?” He demands, grabbing me by the shirt again.

“M-my name is Eren,” I stutter, swallowing thickly. “Eren Jaeger. Where am I?” He stares at me for a moment before answering.

“You’re in Squad Levi’s current headquarters,” the man, apparently his name really _was_ Levi, says. “How the hell did you get in here?”

“I…” I swallow thickly. I kick him in the groin and his grip loosens just enough for me to slip out. He grabs my sweater again but I shrug it off, running out of the door and down the hall. Exit, exit, exit—I have to find the exit! I look behind to see if Levi is behind me before running into someone huge. I fall back and onto my eyes, cursing. I look up and my eyes widen. “Erwin?”

“Eren,” he says casually. “Why are you running? Weren’t you with Hanji, outside?”

“Erwin, be careful!” I hear Levi’s voice drawing near and I scramble to my feet. “He’s not the real Eren!”

Eren grabs my arm before I can escape and he studies me closely. “You’re right. Their eyes and hair color are different. Eren has golden eyes and brown hair, this boy has black hair and blue eyes.” He turns his attention back to me. “Who are you?”

“My name is Eren,” I say, trying to yank my arm free. In my time, Erwin is the boss. He couldn’t make it to the party because his father was sick. “Eren Jaeger. How the fuck did you guys know my name?!”

Erwin says nothing but he picks me up by my arm and starts pulling me somewhere.

“Hey, what the hell?! Let me the fuck go! You bastard! Let me _go_!” I thrash and kick trying to get myself free but he was too strong for me. He dragged me down the stairs where I almost tripped several times before leading me outside, Levi close behind. My eyes widen. I see Sasha and Connie talking not too far off. And to my left I see Mikasa and Armin, too! “What the _fuck_ is going on here…?” I breathe to myself.

“What are you wearing?” Erwin asks me. I look down. I was wearing a band-T and some blue skinny jeans with some Doc Martins I bought when I traveled back to 2015.

“Umm… clothes?” I say. “This isn’t normal wear for your time, but—”

“’My time’?” Erwin repeats.

“Look, just let me go!” I say.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Erwin says. “You’re trespassing on the Special Operations Squad’s base.”

“Hey—I didn’t choose to land here!” I growl.

“’Land’?” Erwin inquires. “Do you mean you have 3DMG?”

“I have what now?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. What the fuck was _that_? 3DMG?

“Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear. The gear we use to fight the titans,” Erwin explains before Levi can tell him there was no… whatever  _that_  is, on me.

“What the _hell_ is a _titan_?” I demand, exasperated with all these terms that made no sense to me.

“That,” Levi says, pointing. Suddenly there was something like an explosion. A reddish flash of lightening came shooting down, hitting the ground. It felt like an earthquake. I gape open mouthed as the smoke cleared and a giant beast at _least_ 50 feet tall appeared. I stare in horror and fall back, staggering back still on my ass until my back hits the wall of the house. I point in horror stuttering incoherently before letting out a bloodcurdling scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know if you want me to continue this! I personally think it's a pretty neat idea. I'll try to make some visuals for the techy stuff later, lol. Thank you for reading!
> 
> Oh, and the reason Erwin is there is... Idk. He just is, lol. Business with Levi I guess? X3
> 
> Anyhow, Comments, Kudos and Bookmarks are always appreciated! Please leave feedback! cx 
> 
> Look out for chapter 2!!! x3
> 
> PS - I wrote and uploaded this today, lol. So i only proofread part of this xD So please tell me if you see any mistakes. (＾O＾); Thank you!


	2. Two's a Crowd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren meets himself and others of the past. Awkward situations ensue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, sooo, this chapter is a mixture of important things and extremely stupid things. I hope it's still enjoyable, though! 
> 
> Also, names get kind of confusing in this chapter, so sorry! PLEASE tell me about when I mess up on POV and/or mixing up everyone. Practically everyone is in this chapter, and bluuuh! Shoot me! So anyways, yeah. Ummm... enjoy. Haha.. Boy am I nervous about this ono
> 
> And the chapter is really, kind of long D:> A /lot/ longer than I intended it to be ono It was almost even /longer/ before I realized that it was getting waaaay too lengthy! Anyways, yeah... Once again, enjoy!

“Has the kid calmed down?” I could hear Levi asking Erwin. No I had not calmed down! How could I?

“Well, he at least seems better than before,” Erwin says.

“How the hell do you not know what a titan is?” Levi asks, sounding pissed. “It’s one thing to have never seen one, but this guy had never even heard of it!”

“Yes, he’s quite strange indeed,” Erwin hums. “He looks exactly like Eren… It can't be a coincidence. The only difference is that this Eren has darker hair and different colored eyes."

"Yeah, I know," Levi sighs. "It's weird. And his clothes are extremely... odd. I've never seen anything like them. Or that device around his waist, or the one we found in his pocket."

Device? Shit, no! I shoot up, feeling my pockets. Phone, phone phone...! Not there. I look around the room frantically before sighing in relief, spotting it on a table not to far from the couch I was laying on. I tip-toed off the couch and grabbed my phone, snapping a picture of he Erwin and Levi look-a-likes.

“We’re going to have to interrogate him later,” Erwin says. Interrogate me? Oh hell no. No! Nope, nope, nope, and nope, again. I’m gone. I wait until I hear footsteps leaving before going to look around and see a door on the other side of the room. Perfect. I grabbed my laptop bag. I then snapped some pictures of the room and a few books before pulling it open and step out, only to run into someone else. Great, just my luck.

“M-Mikasa,” I stare. It was so weird. She looked exactly the same, except… “You have a scar...” I observe, stepping a bit closer.

“Wha-who are you?” she demands, ignoring my comment. Her eyes are narrow as she looks me up and down. “Are you trying to impersonate Eren, or something?”

“You look really cool with a scar,” I say, ignoring her question. She seems taken aback by my comment but shakes it off.

“Answer me,” she orders. “I won’t stand for anyone trying to hurt Eren.”

“Whoa, whoa. Okay, look,” I start, “I don’t know who this 'other Eren' is, but I don’t want to be mistaken for him, or hurt him. I just wanna get out of here and go home.” Which was a lie. There’s no way I’m going home without taking more pictures. This is outrageous! Hanji would definitely want to see these people. Although I'll admit, it creeps the fuck out of me.

“And where exactly is your home?” she inquires, narrowing her eyes. “How did you even get to this place?”

“I-I don’t know… I passed out and when I woke up and I was here,” I lie. “I don’t know where I am or who you people are.”

“Then how did you know my name?” she asks suspiciously, obviously not buying my lies.

“I, uh… It was a lucky guess…?” I say. “You look like someone I know..”

“Someone you know who looks like me and has my name?” she asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Well…” I try to think. I wonder if she acts like my Mikasa, too. If so then I know how to evade her for the most part. The hard part is that I’m not... ‘her’ Eren, I guess. She might not treat me the same. And then I notice something besides her scar. “Your hair is a lot shorter. Did you cut it?” She stares at me.

“How did you…?”

“It looks good,” I say, examining it. She blushes slightly before crossing her arms.

“Look, I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but—”

“I’m not trying to do anything,” I cut her off. “I just want to go home. Really. I don’t want to cause trouble for you, Mikasa.” She says nothing. “Just… Please. Help me get out of here. You won’t ever even have to see me again. Okay? I won't come back.” 

Mikasa looks hesitant. Like she knows she shouldn’t but still might.

“Please,” I say again, giving her a soft smile. She sighs and looks around.

“Fine,” she says quietly. “I’m supposed to make sure you don’t leave, but… You don’t seem like you can do much trouble here. The exit is downstairs and to the right. If you can sneak out of here your home free. Although I can’t promise there won’t be someone looking after the door.”

“Thank you so much,” I say, face flooding with relief. I give her a quick hug, which took her by surprise, before hurrying down the hall.

I keep my back pressed against the wall, heading for the stairs. I heard voices and held my breath. I waited until I knew they were gone before going down the steps. I look behind me to make sure there was no one, only to run into someone else I didn’t see at the bottom of the steps. I grunt and stumble back, falling on my ass yet again.

“Hey, watch where you’re going, Jaeger!” the guy grits out. That voice. There’s no way! I jerk my head up to look.

“J-Jean…?” I stutter under my breath. He looks at me, annoyed. Same look Jean always gives me normally, except there’s only annoyance. My Jean’s annoyance always had a hint of affection. Then he narrows his eyes at me.

“Wait, you’re that imposter guy, aren’t you?” he asks, grabbing me by the wrist and pulling me up. “How the fuck did you get past Mikasa? I didn’t think I’d have to actually do anything…”

“You… This is too weird,” I sigh, using my free hand to run a hand through my hair . He raises an eyebrow.

“Look, if you go back upstairs now then neither of us will have to get in trouble. So just go.”

“What? Hell no,” I say, pulling my arm back. “I’m getting out of here.”

“You’re definitely just as stubborn as Eren,” he mutters. “Look, kid, I don’t need two of you to deal with. Levi’ll have your ass if he catches you.”

“Then I guess he just can’t catch me,” I say, reaching for my pocket discreetly.

“You can’t get passed him,” Jean scoffs, unaware of my movements. “He’s the strongest guy in the Scouting Legion.”

“What the fuck?” is all I respond with. I have no idea what 'the Scouting Legion' is, but I'd rather not stay to find out. If this Levi is anything like mine when he's mad, I should really just go. At least, go until I can sneak back in and investigate a bit more. “Look, Jean, sorry but I have to go. Now.” I take out my phone and quickly snap a picture of him, flash on. He curses and covers his eyes.

“Shit—what the hell was that?!” he demands, rubbing his eyes. I quickly move around him and run out of the door. I look around for a place to hide and contact Hanji. There was no way I could head back just yet.

I run as fast as I can to a large tree, wide enough where I could hide myself. There are other trees around, too, so that’s helpful. I take out my phone and call Hanji.

“ _Eren!_ ” she practically screams, and I have to hold the thing away from my ear. “ _What’s up? Find anything interesting? It’s only been an hour, right? Even for you._ ”

“Yeah, just… Okay, this is a lot to take in, so make sure you have a pen.”

“ _I always have a pen,_ ” she responds. I laugh quietly before telling her everything. The explosion, the monster I saw, the doppelgangers… Then I sent her the pictures of Levi and Erwin, then of Jean.

“The weirdest part is that their personalities aren’t far off at all,” I say, leaning against the tree. “They’re almost exactly the same from what I can tell.”

“ _Eren, this is **amazing**!_ ” she says excitedly. “ _It’s like you’re talking to our past selves! You have to try and get close to them!_ ”

“What?! There’s no way,” I yell in a hushed voice, looking around. “They’re out to get me. They think I'm trying to impersonate their Eren or something! And they wanna interrogate me, or somehting! Besides, what am I even supposed to say? ‘Oh, sorry about accidentally walking into your headquarters, but I’m from the future and want to observe you because you look exactly like my friends!’ They’ll lock me away!”

“ _But you have **proof** ,_” Hanji points out. “ _You have pictures of us. You have videos and pictures of your travels to other time periods!_ ”

“I don’t know how well they’d react to such advanced technology,” I sigh. “This is the year 844, Hanji. Cellphones aren't even a thing yet! Actually,light bulbs aren't even a thing. They use lanterns.”

“ _Eren, please! You have to do this for me!_ ” she begs. I groan and sigh once more.

“Ugh, fine,” I agree reluctantly. “But if anything happens to the equipment it’s your fault.”

“ _Yay! I love you!_ ” she squeals into the phone. I laugh.

“Love you, too,” I say, before hanging up and looking back into the house with a groan. And after Mikasa let me pass, too. I pocket my phone and look around. I didn’t see anyone so I stepped out from behind the tree. I was about to walk back toward the house, as secretive as I could be, but was grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground before I could even walk one foot.

“You shitty brat,” Levi glares at me and I look away. Even if this wasn’t my Levi, seeing his face glaring at me like that wasn’t the best feeling. “I don’t know how to fuck you got past Ackerman, but you’re not going anywhere.”

“Okay!” I say, raising my hands over my head. “Okay, okay! I won’t leave again! You can, like, interrogate me or whatever! Just let me go!” I yank my arm away and stand, raising both arms in surrender. “I’ll come with you.”

He narrows his eyes but says nothing. “Then come on,” he finally speaks, leading me back to the house. Mikasa was standing there. She looked surprised for a moment before wiping the expression off her face.

“I’m very sorry for letting him slide past, Corporal,” she apologizes. He grunts in response, bringing me back up to the room he had originally held me in.

“Erwin, I found the kid,” Levi says, pushing me inside. I stumble and glare at him before sitting down at the table that had been placed inside.

“I’ll answer your questions, but I’m telling you I’m not here to cause trouble,” I say.

“Whatever you say,” Erwin says. His tone made it hard to tell whether he believed me or not.

The two sit across from me. “Who are you?” Erwin asks. I sigh, annoyed. 

“My name is Eren. Eren Jaeger, and I’m 16 years old,” I say.

“Where are you from?” he asks, obviously not wanting to waste time.

“Chica…” Chicago. That’s where I live, at least. But that’s definitely not a place from here. They stare at me, waiting for an answer. I swallow. Hanji told me not to lie. But seriously, they’re gonna kill me. I swallow thickly. “Chicago.”

“What the fuck?” Levi stares at me like I’m making up shit. Which to him, I probably was. “What the hell is that?”

“Look, Eren, it’d be in your best interest to not make things up,” Erwin says, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his seat.

“But I’m not making things up,” I say. “I… I’m not from here.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Levi mutters under his breath.

“I’m serious!” I say, standing. “Look, I... I mean, I know this is going to sound crazy, but..." I take a deep breath. "I’m from the future.”

They stare at me like I’m an idiot. Or like I’m a lunatic. Which is probably what I sound like to them.

“I’m being serious,” I say. “Thousands of years. I-I have proof.”

“The kid is nuts," Levi huffs, tossing his arms up in an exasperated manner.

“Relax, Levi,” Erwin says before turning back to me. “You said you have proof? Show it to me.”

I swallow thickly, relieved. I take out my controller/phone, and then slip my belt off of me.

“I’m from the year 2150,” I start. “My friend Hanji Zoe has finally created a successful time machine. This –” I point to the belt – “is basically like a portable one, if you will. The controller is how I move from time period to time period. And this –” I pick up the phone – “Is my phone. I use it to communicate with Hanji even where phones don’t exist. We- we can video chat, too, if you still don’t believe me.”

“Video?” Levi asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh right, that's not a thing either... Uh, here, I’ll show you,” I say quickly. My heart was beating fast. Levi was apparently super strong, so I’d like to not get on his bad side more than I already am. The best thing to do is to prove my innocence quickly so that they won't be any more suspicious of me than they are now. I walk behind Levi and Erwin and bring up Hanji’s contact pressing the video button, then set the phone on the table, waiting. A few seconds later Hanji picks up. A hologram projects out of the phone so that we can all see her. Erwin and Levi look startled.

“Eren! Holy hell, is that Levi and Erwin?!” she asks, pushing up her glasses. She waves like crazy. “Hiii! Oh my shit, this is CRAZY!”

“Oi, Shitty Glasses, shut the fuck up!” I hear my Levi yell in the background. My heart skips a beat. Hanji grins at me and I shake my head furiously but she ignores me and gets up to go get Levi. Well... this’ll be interesting.

“Oh my fuck, Levi! You have to come see this!” she says, running out of the camera’s view. We can hear Levi trying to tell Hanji that he was busy but she pulled him away from whatever it was anyway.

“I said I’m—” he looks at the screen. “Eren? And… what the hell?”

“What the hell, indeed,” past Levi says, looking at me. I smile sheepishly.

“Levi, um, meet… Levi,” I say. “Um, wow, this is weird…”

“Yeah, you don’t say,” my Levi huffs, crossing his arms. “Where the hell are you?”

“I don’t know!” I say. “I did like normal and ended up in some house or something. All I’m seeing are people who look like you guys. And apparently there’s someone who looks like me, too!”

My Levi stares at the Levi next to me, and he stares back. I felt a cold chill run down my spine. A stare from Levi could turn Medusa to stone, I swear...

“Oh, Eren! What about that monster you mentioned!” Hanji interrupts their stare-off. I freeze. That’s right, I almost forgot. I look at Levi and Erwin.

“I-I don’t know,” I say. “I think I might’ve blacked out. When I woke up it was gone.”

“Oi, brat,” Levi says. “That ‘monster’ you saw? That’s you.”

“W-what?!” I gape at him. “That thing? What the hell do you mean?”

“I mean the ‘you’ from this time, is a shifter,” he says. “He can turn into a titan.”

"A what?" I ask.

“Titans…” Hanji repeats, thinking hard. “Oh! I’ve heard of those! Giant mythical beasts that eat human beings. I’ve always thought they were a legend.” Oh, right... I used to read stories about them when I was younger. I completely forgot...

“They’re real,” past Levi says seriously before his face softens ever so slightly. “So… they don’t exist in your time?”

“Nope!” Hanji says cheerily. “So what do you people do? Fight them? I heard they’re ginormous!”

"There are factions," Levi says. "Ours- the Scouting Legion- is the only one that goes against them."

“The biggest encounter we’ve ever had is over 50 meters,” Erwin states.

“Converted into feet, that’s almost 200 feet tall!” Hanji says excitedly, shaking my Levi’s shoulders. He smacks her hands away.

“Hey, I have a question,” past Levi says.

“Go for it!” Hanji says, eager to hear it.

“Do you have anyone name Annie Leonhart?” he asks. I choke.

“Wha—how do you know that name?” I demand. Hanji laughs and my Levi huffs.

“So you do…” past Levi mumbles. “What is she like?”

“Ask Eren,” Hanji snickers. “He knows her best.”

“We only went out for two months, dammit! Before she admitted that she loved Armin…” I grumble. My Levi rolls his eyes. “Look she’s… cool. She’s strong and smart and a really good person.”

“Well that’s good, at least,” Levi says, before bluntly stating, “She’s a criminal here.”

“What?!” I stare at him.

“And she’s also a titan shifter. It’s because of her that hundreds of people lost their lives.”

“Levi, that’s enough,” Erwin stops him, glancing up at me. I couldn’t believe that. Annie was so… nice. Sure she was a little standoffish. Cold, even, but… No. It’s nothing. Their Annie isn’t the same as my friend. Their Annie isn't my friend.

“That’s…” I still had no words to say, though.

“Eren, Hanji, I’m going back to my own lab,” my Levi says. “I have a project due. And Eren?”

“Yeah…?”

“Don’t get hurt,” he says. He shows a rare smile before instantly wiping it off his face and leaving the room. I blush and sigh, rubbing my temples.

“Why are you blushing?” Levi asks me. I blush even harder and turn my head away.

“Eren and Levi used to be L-O-V-E-R-S~,” Hanji says. I flip her off. Levi stares at her.

“What the fuck?” he says for, like, the third time in 15 minutes. “That’s really… isn’t that pedophilic?”

“H-he’s only five years older than me,” I mutter.

“Oh. So that ‘me’ is younger than I am?” he says, seeming slightly irritated but I couldn’t tell for sure. “Well, either way it’s weird… And didn’t you just say you dated Annie?”

“Wait, how old are you?” I ask, ignoring his question. He looked exactly the same as my Levi.

“I’m already 31, kid,” Levi huffs. I stare at him.

“No fuckin’ way! You look 20!”

“Thank you?” Levi responds. “Anyways, Erwin, I’m calling for a meeting. You –” he points to Hanji – “stay there.”

“My pleasure!” Hanji says, sitting in her chair and waiting eagerly. A few minutes later everyone I know is walking into the room. And then I see him. Or, uh, me… Whatever. Our eyes meet and he gapes at me.

“What the hell?” he walks over to me. “What the hell?” Apparently nobody had told him about me.

“Back up, dude,” I say, pushing… myself, farther back. “This isn’t exactly normal for me, either.” When I see Jean walk in I avert my eyes and turn back toward Hanji. “Do you seriously not find any this weird? Like, at all?”

“I find this all extremely weird!” Hanji says. “And extraordinary! Whoa, I can see myself! That’s fucking cool!”

“Levi, what is that thing?” past Hanji asks in disbelief, staring at the projection. “She looks like… me!”

“Technically, I am you!” my Hanji says, crossing her arms and grinning. “From thousands of years in the future.”

“Corporal, what the fuck is going on here?” Eren demands to Levi.

“Everyone just shut up and sit down,” Levi orders, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. “Jaeger and that Hanji are going to explain.” He gives me a pointed look. “Right?”

“Y-yeah…” I say. I wait for everyone to settle down before taking a deep breath. “Okay, so, uh... My name is Eren Jaeger. I’m 16 years old and I’m from the year 2150. Basically I’m like… the future version of him-” I point the other Eren- “I guess… Oh, and those ‘titans’ you have? There’s no such thing where I’m from. It’s an old myth that nobody even remembers anymore. And my friends are…. well, future versions of you guys.” 

They were staring at me like I was a madman and so I just take another deep breath and take out my phone to pull up a picture of Mikasa, Armin and myself at the beach. Armin stands up then.

“Can I see that?” he demands, blue eyes wide. I shrug and hand it to him.

“Just be careful with it. I need that,” I say. Eren and Mikasa stand behind him, all three of them staring at the picture.

“That in the background,” Armin starts. “Is that the ocean?”

“Yeah-well, it’s a lake at least,” I say. I stare at them as they look at the picture with interest. “Have you guys never seen it…?”

“What’s an ocean?” I hear Connie whispering to Sasha, who shrugs. Wow. Okay. I didn’t expect that.

“Eren, I told you!” Armin laughs, tears in his eyes. “It’s real. It’s somewhere out there.”

“Yeah…” Eren says. “It is…”

“You guys have seriously never seen it?” I ask, amazed.

“We’re confined within these walls,” Eren says seriously. “And outside the walls are the titans. The chances of us being able to go see it without be killed is less than one percent.”

“Walls?” I repeat. “What do you mean?”

“Did you seriously come here without knowing anything?” Eren asks.

“We don’t have books that go back to this time period,” I huff. “Why do you think I’m here? I’m gathering data and research.”

I pick up the phone and snap a picture of all of them (which seemed to confused them), before setting it back down.

“And memories, I guess,” I say, examining the photo.

“Eren,” my Hanji calls my name. I look at her. “Jean is here with the new intern. Should I invite them in?”

“What? No,” I say, shaking my head. “Don’t mess with me. Leave them out of this. Jean doesn’t even work here, it doesn’t concern him.”

“Oh, well too late,” she laughs. I groan.

“Then why the fuck did you ask?” I demand.

“I just like teasing you,” she says. I flip her off again. A moment later Marco walks into the room with Jean and a coffee.

“I brought the coffee you wanted, Hanji,” he smiles. Then he glances at the screen and a look of surprise and confusion cross his face. Suddenly I hear a chair clatter and fall behind me. I look to see Jean had stood up abruptly, knocking his chair down.

“Marco…?” he mumbles under his breath. I stare at him then look back at the screen.

 “Jean, he looks like… you,” Marco says, pointing to the screen with his thumb. My Jean just looks confused. “Also, how does he know my name?”

“It’s hard to explain,” I say, scratching the back of my neck. I hated seeing Jean and Marco together. I know they’re best friends, but I’m pretty sure Marco has a crush on Jean. Even if he is still a good friend of mine, I can't help but worry that Jean and Marco will start dating.

I look back to the Jean behind me and I see tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Why is he…?” I trail off.

“Marco died during an attack from the titans,” Eren says, looking down solemnly. “He and Jean were… close.”

“He was my best friend,” he mutters, standing his chair back up and sitting back down. Nobody said anything. Now Marco just looked awkward. Jean sighs, rubbing his eyes with his hand.

“Marco is interning at the lab,” my Hanji finally speaks up. “He and Jean are almost inseparable.”

“Yeah, they are,” I mutter and Jean glances a bit nervously at me. I can’t help it if I’m the jealous type. Even if we weren’t dating.

“Well, unless Eren’s here, that is,” Hanji laughs. “I can never tell if they’re going to make out or fight!”

“Shut up, Hanji!” I groan.

“Ew, what the hell?” Eren grimaces. “Me and Jean? Are you serious?”

“We’re not dating,” I say quickly.

“Not yet at least,” my Jean mumbles under his breath. I stare at him and he stares back and wow if this isn’t the most awkward thing I’ve ever experienced.

I clear my throat. "Umm… yeah."

Silence followed and holy shit I want to crawl under a rock and die.

“Jean, I have other things to do,” Marco says lightly, breaking the now extremely awkward atmosphere like the angel he is. “Let’s go.”

“R-right,” he says, following Marco out of the room. My Hanji laughs boisterously and I sigh heavily.

“I don’t know how my relationship status got involved with this, but can we just stick to talking about research, please?”

"Please," past Levi huffs, annoyed.

“Right, right, of course,” my Hanji says, taking off her glasses and putting them down before looking at us seriously. “I want Eren to stay there with you people. It will be the perfect chance for research about the place you live and maybe even the titans!”

“I can help with that part!” Hanji says excitedly. “I can tell Eren everything I know!”

"Oi, we haven't even decided if the brat will stay with us!" Levi says.

“That’s great! You do that!” my Hanji says excitedly, ignoring past Levi just like she would to our own.

"It should be fine," Erwin says. "Our expedition to Wall Maria won't happen for quite some time, right?" Levi rolls his eyes but doesn't rebuttal. I breathe a silent sigh of relief.

“Well I have to go now," my Hanji says. "Petra is—"

Then Levi stands up abruptly. He turns and leaves the room, slamming the door behind him. I stare after him.

“What was that about?” I mumble, more to myself than to them. Hanji just shrugs and says goodbye, reminding me to fill her in as I go before hanging up.

“That’s a story for another time,” Erwin says, standing. “Eren, since Hanji is okay with it, you can go ahead and go with her. She’ll tell you whatever you want to know so long as you cooperate. Understand? No trouble.”

“Y-you have my word,” I say, looking down. Levi’s reaction somehow upset me. But it shouldn’t. He’s not the same Levi I know. Even if my Levi is dating Petra now… I wonder if Levi has a romantic relationship with their Petra. But by his reaction it might be a case like Jean’s… Its best I don’t ask about it.

Hanji grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room. I took one last look over everyone before pulling my arm back and following her myself.

She brought me to what looked like an office. There were piles of paper everywhere, scattered all about and seeming to have no order. Which sort of bothered me. I guess that’s Levi’s influence.

 “That’s a story for another time,” Erwin says, standing. “Eren, since Hanji is okay with it, you can just go ahead with her. She’ll tell you whatever you want to know so long as you cooperate. Understand? No trouble.”

“Y-you have my word,” I say, looking down. Levi’s reaction somehow upset me. But it shouldn’t. He’s not the same Levi I know. Even if my Levi isdating Petra now… I wonder if Levi has a romantic relationship with their Petra, too. But by his reaction they might have broken up. No, it’s more likely that it’s a case like Jean’s… Its best I don’t ask about it.

Hanji grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room. I took one last look over everyone before pulling my arm back and following her myself.

She brought me to what looked like an office. There were piles of paper everywhere, scattered all about and seeming to have no order. Which sort of bothered me. I guess that’s Levi’s influence.

She sat down across from me, grinning in a way that freaked me out.

So then she started talking. She talked about their physiology, their behavior, their appearance, and their known weaknesses. She rambled and rambled on for at least three hours and I was getting really tired. It’d been a long day and I just wanted to get some sleep.

“Hanji,” I cut her off before she could continue, “I’m sorry but it’s kind of fucking late and I’m really tired.” I stand. “Is there anywhere I can stay for now? I need sleep. Badly.”

Hanji just laughs and nods. “Of course!” she says. “For now you can stay with either Jean or Eren, since they’re not currently sharing a room with anyone.”

I fidgeted a bit. Staying with Jean would just be awkward, but staying with… myself, would also be really weird… But I think it’ll be easier to learn about this place if I was with the other Eren. And if I'm lucky, the guy won’t ask too many questions. After what happened earlier I don’t think I can stand to be in the same room as Jean without it being extremely uncomfortable and awkward.

“I’ll just room with, uh… Eren,” I say. She nods and stands up, leading me out and around the corner to the upstairs. Eren’s room wasn’t until the end of the hall. Hanji knocked on the door.

“It’s Hanji,” she says.

“S’open,” he responds. Hanji pushes open the door and lets herself and me in. Eren stares at me and I stare back.

“Eren, Future Eren will be rooming with you until further notice, okay?” Hanji says. Eren looks as if he’s going to reply before shutting his mouth and shrugging. “Awesome! You two get along now. I’m going to go see Levi.” And then she was gone.

“Um… hi,” I say awkwardly. He waves, but says nothing, just goes back to laying down, so I just walk over to the spare bed on the other wall and get under the covers. Wow I’m a lot more tired than I thought. The moment my head hit the pillow I was nearly out. Just as I was about to fall asleep Eren spoke up.

“Are you really from the future?” he asks. I sigh and sit up, looking at him through the dim light of the lantern by the door.

“Yes,” I say, with an irritated sigh. “I think I’ve shown enough proof for that.”

“No, it’s not that I don’t believe I just…” he sighs. “Never mind.”

“What is it?” I inquire. “I’m already up again so you might as well spit it out.” He looks at me before looking away,

“It’s a bit childish but… could you tell me about it? The future, I mean…”

“Sure,” I say, yawning. Wow, what an odd situation. I’m having a conversation with myself like its normal. “What do you wanna know?”

“What’s it like?” he asks, the tone in his voice was soft. “The ocean and stuff… Can you describe it?”

“Well… I don’t live by the ocean, but I live by a lake.”

“What is that?”

“It’s basically a smaller version of the ocean, I guess.”

“Describe it to me.”

“It’s big,” I start. “Not as big as the ocean, but it's big. Sometimes it looks like it could stretch on forever depending on where you’re standing. It smells fresh and depending on the day it can look either green or blue. There are a lot of fish, but only if you go deep enough. You won’t really see any if you stay by the shore… But in the ocean, there are so many that even in my time period we haven’t explored more than 7% of it. There are still so many unknown creatures… It’s really amazing. I, um, have pictures of both the lake and the ocean… If you want to see them.”

“I want to,” he responds immediately. I push myself out of the bed and go to his, sitting next to him and pulling out my phone, pulling up my photo stream. I scroll down to my summer vacation photos and begin to show my past-self pictures of the future. I showed him the lake, first. Mikasa canoeing, Armin falling off the boat and into the water, Jean and Levi having a swimming contest… Then I showed him pictures of just the lake itself. I love taking pictures of scenery. Next to science, photography is a passion of mine. I showed him the ones I took underwater, too. Eren was looking at the pictures with serious eyes, though he looked fascinated, too.

Then I showed him the pictures from when I was in Florida. An actual ocean. His eyes widened.

“It’s beautiful,” he breathes. I yawn and feel myself nodding off as Eren scrolls through my pictures. He started to ask me something but I was basically asleep, leaning on him, my head on his shoulder as I dozed off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UgggggH. Sorry. I know this chapter was trash but I wanted to get it up already ><3
> 
> I know I could've done much better with this but whatever. I really hope it isn't /too/ bad... And yes, I know, blinding someone with a camera flash is sooo cheesy, but I wanted to do it anyways. So bite me.
> 
> Also, I know that we've only explored 5% of the ocean, but since I set this at a farther date than we are now, I decided to up it just a bit, haha.
> 
> Anyhow, yeah... I think I proofread this enough, but PLEASE point out any mistake you see! <3 Lots of love! Reach me on tumblr, if you want! <3 thatanimegeek.tumblr.com cx>
> 
> Look out for chapter three!
> 
> (( Hmu on Tumblr ^0^): idiocyonaplate.tumblr.com


	3. The Interview

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren decided he should take the opportunity he has and interview some of the people he's staying with. He decides that the best option is to try and interview the one who seems like he'd be the most experienced one there: Erwin Smith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: THIS CHAPTER HAS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE ATTACK ON TITAN MANGA. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
> 
> Okay, so, I've been getting such AMAZING compliments on this fic so I feel totally motivated right now!! Sadly, I'm still updating suuuper late but I'm hoping to get back on track. D:> But, yeah! Thanks sooo much for all the lovely feedback <3 It really means a lot :'))) And... yeah! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well! (( aslo please read the end notes after this! i want to clarify something )).
> 
> Okay so, just another warning, the first half of this chapter is really, really... REALLY stupid, lol. It was something I came up with when trying to post this on time (obviously didn't work out), but I decided to leave it there, anyways.
> 
> Now, I hope you enjoy!!
> 
> PS - I think you guys have high expectations but I'm gonna warn you now that in the beginning of a lot of chapters it's going to be pretty trash, lol. At least at the beginning. I kind of switch between BS and seriousness so yeah. I try my best to add comedy before the real drama picks up
> 
> PPS - I feel like this chapter seems filler-y even though it's really long I think??? So I'm sorry. BUT I PROMISE THE NEXT CHAPTER IS WHEN THINGS START PICKING UP MORE. Pleeeease don't drop this story, I promise you won't regret sticking with it<3
> 
> PPPS - I played around with their ages, hope you don't mind, lol
> 
> Okay, NOW, enjoy cx>

 

It was afternoon now, and I was awkwardly seated in between Armin and Eren for lunch.

And if we’re talking awkward, then this morning is a very good example.

* * *

 

I woke up very groggily and very slowly. The first thing I processed was how warm it was. Like, I knew there was a blanket on me, but it felt like a different type of warmth. The second thing I noticed was that my arms were wrapped around someone else.

Confused, I open my eyes and am met with a shirt. I look up to see… my face? No, wait, not mine. Looks like mine. Brown hair, though. What?

Oh yeah, I’m in the past. But when did I fall asleep? And why was I in Eren’s bed instead of my own? My sleep-hazed brain wasn’t processing anything, but fuck was it warm. This guy radiates more heat than I do! And that’s saying something. Everyone always told me that I was warm, but this guy was burning up, like he had a fever or some shit.

I realized that we basically had each other in an octopus hold. I’ve been told by everyone who has slept in the same bed as me that I tend to cling. I guess past me did the same thing? That’s so weird…

But basically I was stuck there. Eren wouldn’t wake up when I shook him, and frankly trying to shake someone while having your limbs completely entwined with theirs is extremely awkward.

But that’s not even the worst part! After about 5 minutes of Eren not waking the hell up, I decided to try one last time to get him off me at least. So I sort of maneuvered Eren onto his back, his hand lolling to the side.

_Okay, so now I’m on top of him. How do I do this so that it’s less awkward than it already is?_

But, before I was able to come up with a decent plan, Armin opened the door like he was about to say something, but froze at the sight. The sight of me straddling… myself, his arms wrapped tightly around my neck and me doing some sort of weird thrust motion. Under a blanket.

Armin then proceeded to slam the door shut, to which I called out frantically for him to help me.

“Huh…? Wha’s happenin’…?” Eren asks with a yawn.

“Oh, now you wake up?!” I huff. “Lemme go!”

“Huh? Waa!” he lets me go and I jump off of him and then we just sort of stood there awkwardly staring at each other, him in horror and me in embarrassment _and_ horror.

“Are you guys decent yet?” Armin calls from the other side of the door.

“We were never _in_ decent!” we both yell. Armin opens the door and that’s when I notice Jean behind him. Fucking. Great.

“Breakfast is ready,” Armin says, averting his eyes. I groan.

“Eren, I knew you swung for the other team but don’t you think this is a bit much?” Jean asks with a raised eyebrow. I throw my pillow at his face.

“Fuck you, dude!” I growl. “Just fuck off, will you? And I’m not gay!”

“You’re not?” all three of them ask in unison. I groan and throw my head down on the pillow.

“No,” I grit out. “I’m _bi_. As in I’m okay with both boys and girls.”

“Ahh…” Eren and Armin say slowly.

“A-anyways,” Armin starts up again, “like I said, breakfast is ready.”

“I’m not eating,” I say, holding my hand up. “I need to talk to Hanji. My Hanji, I mean.” _A.K.A., I really need to not be near you guys_ , I thought.

* * *

 

So I avoided them for as long as I could, but Connie insisted I joined them all for lunch, much to my dismay. The three of us were sitting there awkwardly, not saying anything. I just stared at my plate.

“What’s up with you three?” Sasha asks, mouth full of food.

“Yeah, you’re making it awkward for the rest of us,” Connie says with a bit of a laugh.

However, we don’t laugh. Armin tried to force it, but I’m fairly sure that that just made everything even more awkward. Argh! Why was this so fucking weird? A misunderstanding happened in the morning. Big deal! It’s not like it was legit self-cest. That shit’s weird. I clear my throat before giving them a smile.

“Sorry, it’s just… still a bit weird for me,” I lie. Well, okay, not lie. It was extremely weird seeing them all here. My friends, but also people I didn’t know at all. “As I’m sure it is for you. There was just a bit of an incident earlier, that’s all.”

And nobody questioned it after that. It wasn’t like they could. It was understandable. Everyone tried to act calm but I knew it was definitely weird to have a slightly different “Eren” just sitting with them. Especially after proving that I was from the future.

I thought about if they were actually much different from the people I knew. So far Past Levi seemed to be like the Levi I know, besides being much more serious. Which was understandable. My time period is a helluva lot easier to be happy in. I wondered if any of them would be willing to tell me about things they’ve experienced with the titans. While I’m recording, of course. Audio, at least. This is some valuable shit. It’s also tricky. I have to make sure I don’t get on their bad sides.

I wondered just how busy Commander Erwin is. Would he be willing to let me “interview” him? I wonder if he’d let me record him, or if I’ll have to tape it in secret. I’d much rather record this stuff visually, but if my only option is to record using a voice recorder then so be it. In the _very_ worst case, I’ll have to write as he speaks. Or type, that’d probably be easier. So I decided to ask him, later. But first I’m going to need to know if that’s even an option…

* * *

 

“You want to what?” Eren asks, raising an eyebrow. I sigh, leaning back in the chair. I was back in his room, past Armin sitting next to past me.

“I want to ask Erw—I mean the Commander—about the titans, and his experiences with them,” I repeat myself. “I want to ask a lot of you, really. Including you two, but I prefer to ask the Commander first, since he seems to have the most experience out of everyone.”

Eren sighs and scratches the back of his head. “Well…” he looks at Armin.

“Ah, we could show you where his office is, at least,” Armin chimes. “I’m not sure how much good that’ll do, though. He’s pretty busy lately.” I nod, listening.

“But if he does let you in, make sure you salute,” he continues. Salute?

“You mean like this?” I ask, taking my right hand, fingers together, and raising my hand so the tips of my fingers touch the outside edge of my eyebrow (Levi’s dad was in the military, so Levi taught me how to do a proper salute). But, apparently, I was wrong. They look at me with obvious befuddlement and shake their heads.

“Like this,” Eren corrects me. He stands, taking his right hand and making an upside down fist that he places over his heart, his left hand hidden behind his back. He then turns around and shows me the fist he’s making in the back.

“Is that really necessary?” I ask. “The fist behind your back, I mean.” He shrugs.

“It’s proper,” he says simply. That was fair, I guess.

“Now you try it,” Armin says. Well, might as well, right? It’s not like it was a hard motion to make. So I get up out of my chair and copy Eren’s movements.

“This, right?” I ask. They nod.

“Now you’ve got it.” I smiled at them and said thank you.

“So when are you planning on going to see him?” Armin asks. I shrug.

“Sometime soon, preferably,” I say. “Within the hour, at least.”

“We can show you right now, then,” Armin says.

“You can show him, Armin,” Eren says. “You don’t need me to come.”

“Oh, um, okay,” Armin says. I thought about my Armin and how we interacted.  

I hadn’t known Armin personally until I found out he worked at the lab, too. He was in my chemistry class but I’d only ever talked to him during group labs since he was my table partner. I didn’t think we’d get along as well as we did since we were so different. Not academically, of course. He wasn’t much smarter than me. It had to do more with the people we hung out with and our hobbies. But when we started talking more at the lab we decided to hang out at school, too. It turned out our music tastes were pretty similar, much to my surprise. And we liked the same movies. And it also turned out he was a hell of a lot better at videogames than I thought, though I guess I should have seen that coming. Just goes to show not to judge a book by its cover.

“When did you guys meet?” I ask suddenly. The look at me. “Like, did you meet when you entered the military? Or the Scouting Legion? Or before that?”

“Before that,” Eren says. “ _Way_ before that.”

“Eren and I have been friends since nearly birth,” Armin says. Eren nods and puts a hand on Armin’s shoulder.

“He’s like a brother to me.”

“I didn’t meet my Armin until last year,” I say. “I mean, I met him before that since we had AP classes together, but we weren’t friends.”

“What’s an AP class?” Ere asks.

“Oh, they’re just like, advanced classes some people get in school,” I shrug. “So it’s harder than a normal class. It just means I’m pretty smart, I guess.” Or at least that’s how I like to think about it.

“Well, there’s another difference between you two,” Armin snorts and Eren glares at him defensively.

“Well _so-rry_ I can’t be as smart as you two,” he scoffs. I can’t help the little smile that crosses my face.

“So, do you want to go see the commander now?” Armin asks.

“Uh, well, maybe not _now_ , but do show me where his office is.”

Armin nods and motions me to follow him. I get up to do so, before remembering my bag. Just in case I changed my mind. We walk in silence and I know we’re almost there but I start talking anyways.

“So, uh, how old are you guys?” I ask. If my Levi was younger than theirs then maybe I was younger, too, or vice versa.

“Fifteen,” Armin answers mindlessly. Vice versa! Nice. “Most of us, at least.”

“’Most?” I ask.

“Jean’s 17, I think,” he explains says. “And Sasha just turned 16.” I nod.

Then we’re at Erwin’s office door. I glance at Armin who gives me a thumbs up before heading back to the room. I take a deep breath. I had a choice; go back now and do this later, or do it now and more on to someone else. The longer this takes, the longer I’m stuck here.

Thinking about it like that, I decided doing it now would be the best choice. I knock on Erwin’s door.

“Come in,” I hear his voice, slightly muffled because of the door. I hesitate for only a second before turning the doorknob and pushing the door open. He looked a bit surprised. “Oh, Eren, hello.”

“H-hi, sir,” I say. I remember the salute and fumble to do it. He gives a little chuckle.

“Your hand is upside down, but I appreciate the effort,” he says. I flush embarrassedly before putting my hands behind my back. “Did you need something?”

“Um, yeah, actually,” I say. I take a deep breath. “I know you’re busy, so I’m sorry in advance for asking you, but I need a favor.”

“Oh?” he asks, putting his pen down. I nod.

“Can I, kind of like… interview you?”

“Interview?” he raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah, uh, like… about the titans, your experiences, why you’re fighting against the titans… things like that?”

Erwin didn’t say anything for a moment, considering the idea, before motioning for me to sit in the chair in front of him. Eren breathed a silent sigh of relief as he sat down.

“Is it alright with you if I record this?” he asks. Erwin pauses. I’m guessing he was trying to remember what it meant to ‘record’ something? After a moment he nods.

“Be my guest.”

I give him a forced smile before reaching in my bag and taking out my phone and the tripod for it. I’d never gotten to do an exclusive with someone from another time period before… Hanji was right, this was a great opportunity!

I set up the camera to face him and then pressed the record button.

“Improvised interview one, date seven-seventeen-one-fifty—or going by the date of this world—eight hundred forty-four. Interviewing: Commander Erwin Smith, age…?”

“Forty-three,” Erwin answers.

“Height?”

“188 centimeters.”

“Converted into feet that’s about six foot two,” I state. “Amazing, you’re the same height as my boss… Anyways, how long have you been in the, uh… Scouting Legion, was it?”

“Yes. I joined the Scouting Legion when I was 16.”

“Why did you join the Scouting Legion? Had you ever seen a titan before doing so?”

“I had never seen a titan, no,” he shakes his head. “And I joined… I joined because of what my father died for. He knew something—something that wasn’t supposed to be known. Because of that I joined the Legion, in order to fulfill my father’s dreams, and find out what he’d worked so hard to know.”

I pause for a moment, letting that sink in before moving on. “How do you join the Scouting Legion? Is there a process?”

“You’re allowed to enter the military when you’re 12 years old. I, however, joined when I was 13. You train to be a soldier for three years, and after that you choose where you’re going to go. You have three options; The Garrison, The Military Police and the Scouting Legion, or Survey Corps. The Garrison keeps watch over the wall. They have to make sure the titans don’t find a way in. The Military Police is the ideal for most, but only the top ten soldiers get the choice to go.

“The Military Police is the safest place, you could say. Safely tucked away in the interior. Most of them are slackers, in my opinion… They only care about themselves. The Scouting Legion, however… most people would say it’s the stupidest decision one could make.”

“And why is that?” I inquire, glancing at my phone to make sure it’s still recording.

“The Scouting Legion goes outside the walls—”

“Yeah, you mentioned that before,” I interrupt. “What are ‘the walls’? Why can’t you leave them?”

“Basically, the walls separate _us_ , from the titans. The walls protected us for about a century before they broke through again. The Scouting Legion leaves the walls to go and try to fend off the titans. The chance of survival is extremely low, though.”

“And w-what are the titans?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady and professional, although I think he heard my voice quiver a bit.

“Did Hanji not tell you already?”

“She told me some things, but more about their appearance and weaknesses than what they actually _are_.”

Erwin hesitates, like he’s contemplating something.

“The titans… we used to believe they were just huge monsters. They’re giants that eat people. They’ll destroy anything in their way if it means getting to the humans. They can vary from 5 meters to 15 meters, although the Colossal is the biggest titan we’ve met thus far, reaching over 50 meters. There was once one larger than that, but its dead now.

“We’d always believe that they had just come from nowhere, or that they had always just… been here. But after recent events, we’ve come to a different conclusion.”

“Which is…?” I ask, checking the recording once again. His brow was furrowed and his face was completely serious. It made me nervous.

“… The titans are human,” he says seriously. “Or, were. We don’t know how, but we believe that there is a titan with the power to transform other people into titans. We came to this conclusion not long after we found the mother of one of our comrades transformed into a titan with a disability. A disability his mother had.”

I swallowed thickly. This was a lot to take in, but I needed this information. “May I ask whose mother it was…?”

“Connie Springer’s.”

There was a heavy silence before I began the questions again.

“How many walls are there?”

“There used to be three, but three years ago the titans breached the first; Wall Maria. It hit Shiganshina hard. They survivors of Maria had to move to Wall Rose afterwards. Five years after the breach of Maria, Rose was lost, as well. They invaded the Trost District, in the South.” He took out a map to show me what he was talking about, so I moved the camera and to get a better look. “But Eren managed to seal the wall back up with his titan powers. After that incident, the issue of who would take custody over Eren arose. The matter was taken to court, and we won custody over Eren. If the MP won, Eren would have been killed, and humanity would have no chance at survival.”

“And how did you win?” I ask, moving the camera back up to face the blonde.

“Levi took action,” he says, leaning back in his chair. “This may sound a bit wrong, but he gave Eren the beating of his life in front of the entire jury.” I gaped at him. A bit? That sounded like a pretty shit way to go, if you ask me. But I let him explain.

“Why…?”

“To show that he could do what the MP could not; contain Eren. If Eren had ‘gone titan,’ those men wouldn’t have the slightest idea on what to do. They would have probably been killed. Levi, however, can kill more titans on his own that ten men against one. He could do it. That said, it was very unlikely Eren would have transformed to begin with. He was too unaware of his powers.”

“I-I see…” I say. That did make sense, but… I mean, this Levi is probably even stronger than my Levi. And that was scary.

I continued on with the interview for about 20 more minutes, before I finally came up with a final question.

“Do you…” I clear my throat. Do you believe you’ll be able to defeat the titans? In your lifetime, I mean.”

“I believe so, yes,” he says. He didn’t say it confidently, but he said it surely, if that makes any sense. “Or at least, we’ll get closer than anyone ever has. And with the information we’ve gathered, the next generation of the Scouts will be able to do it.”

I nod slowly. I stand and shake Erwin’s hand. “Thank you, sir,” I say gratefully. “You have no idea how much you’ve helped me.”

“It was my pleasure,” the commander says. “Were you planning on interviewing anyone else?”

“Ah, um, yes,” I confirm as I turn off the camera and pack my tripod back up. “Probably Captain Levi and then some of Squad Levi.”

He nods thoughtfully. “Well, good luck trying to convince Levi,” he says. I give a slight nod before leaving his office. Was I supposed to salute on my way out? Ugh, whatever…

As I walk back to where I think I remember Eren’s room being, I bump into Jean.

“Sor—oh, it’s just you, Eren,” he looks me over. “I mean, future Eren.”

“You know, if your Eren isn’t around then you don’t need to add ‘future’ to my name,” I huff. He just shrugs, looking indifferent. Then we just stand there in awkward silence.

“So,” he starts, “why are you here, again?”

“Data gathering and research,” I answer simply. I studied Jean. One of the only differences between my Jean and this Jean, was that his hair was styled flatter. Same hair color, probably same eye color, same height… It was too weird.

“And when are you leaving?”

“Whenever I’m done.”

“What is that?”

“This?” I ask, picking up the controller. He nods. “This is how I control what time period I go to.”

“What’s that button for?”

“The present,” I answer. “Specifically my time period, that way it’s easier to get home.”

He hums in acknowledgement. “So… in your time period there are no titans? Like, at all?” I shake my head.

“It’s an old myth most people have forgotten,” I inform him. “Well, obviously it’s not a myth, but nobody believes in them.”

“And you guys are us?” he asks. His voice sounded slightly shakier than before. “As in, it’s almost like we get a second chance?”

“Uh, yeah, I-I guess so…?” I say awkwardly, scratching the back of my head. He sits down on the top of the stairs and after a moment, I sit next to him, setting my controller on the ground next to me. It was silent before Jean started laughing. He was laughing, but there were tears going down his face. It was hard to watch. I don’t know him. He’s not the man I’m friends with. But he had his face, and watching that face convey pain like this hurt. But I didn’t know what to do. I don’t know how to comfort him. I know exactly how to comfort my Jean, but I don’t know anything about this guy.

“Sorry,” he says, wiping his tears away. “I don’t usually do that, I just… you don’t know what it’s like to constantly live with knowing your best friend is dead because of those _things_. I always question myself. ‘What if I had been with him?’ or ‘Why him, out of anyone?’ and ‘Could I have stopped it if I _was_ there?’”

“Why are you telling me this?” I ask, pulling my knees up to my chest. “You don’t even know me. And you don’t even seem like the type of person to tell your own friends, either.”

“Because, _Eren_ , you don’t know what it’s like. You want data? Well here’s some fucking data: You’ve never experienced the trauma we have. Some of us had it worse than others, like Jaeger.”

“What happened to—?”

“That’s something he can tell you,” Jean says. He sighs, sounding annoyed. “The thigns we’ve seen, the people we’ve lost… you wouldn’t know the half of it.” I clench my fists.

“Look, it was never my choice to come here,” I say. “I just meant to come to the time period. Take some pictures, write some shit down—boom. I’m done. I’d probably have only been here three days to a week. But imagine if I hadn’t landed here. If I had landed outside the walls. I wouldn’t have lasted a second if I didn’t manage to go back! But I didn’t end up there, did I? I ended up here, in your little headquarters. So you’re just going to have to get used to me being here.”

“You are just as stubborn as Jaeger,” Jean mutters. I glare at him before hugging my knees.

“Well sor-fucking-ry for being such a nuisance, Jean Kirschtein,” I say irritably, standing up. “I’m going back to Eren’s room.”

I then proceed to storm back to Eren’s room, ignoring his calls after me.

Around 20 minutes later there’s a knock on the door. I look at Eren who shrugs, so I go get it instead. It was Jean.

“What do you want?” I ask.

“You forgot this,” Jean says, holding my controller out to me. My heart skips a beat and I take it back hurriedly.

“Uh, thanks,” I say, breathing out gratefully. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d realized it myself. Actually, I’m pretty mad at myself for not noticing I left it. “Wow, thanks. You don’t understand how grateful I am, really… Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Jean says. “Well, I’m leaving now.”

“Yeah… okay,” I say, nodding. I sigh and look at Eren. He shrugs.

"Don't worry about him," he says. "He's mostly an asshole, but he's a pretty nice guy once you get past that. Kind of."

"Not that you'd ever say that to his face," I say. He laughs a bit.

"Got that right."

So I decide to just go to bed. Before I know it, I'll be out of here. Before the month's over I could be back home with information we never dreamed of getting! And with that thought, I snuggled up in the blankets and fell asleep.

 

### Notes:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, before I get into the chapter itself I want to explain something. What I did with their sexualities is that I made the past/canon era people basically all straight, and took their future selves and made most of them the sexualities myself and others headcanon them to be. The REASON I did this is because in the original story, there is usually only subtle romance hinted between the characters, and despite my OTPs, I'm pretty sure they're all or mostly straight (obviously, this doesn't concern Krista and Ymir). So yeah! I listed their sexualities on my backup Tumblr so I'll just link that here --> http://idiocyonaplate.tumblr.com/post/141182313693/what-the-hell-is-a-titan-sexualities
> 
> Obviously, you don't need to read them. This is just so that there isn't a lot of confusion? Ugggh, I'm sorry. I'm no good with words or stuff like this! ;-; But I want to do this /before/ there's any confusion.
> 
> Anyways, yeah... That aside, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks sooo much for reading and supporting me, and I hope you'll continue to do so! I'm sort of scared this chapter was a let down, but I hope it was decent at the least! :D
> 
> And yeah, I know, I made Jean kind of an arse buuuut, idk. He'll get better. He's kind of the only one atm besides Levi who's not big on Eren's visit to their time period.
> 
> aLSO THIS CHAPTER IS A LOT LONGER THAN I THOUGHT??? I was writing more and then I realized it was already like ten pages! I had to switch the portion I'd started to chapter four, lmao! xDDD But yeah! The next chapter will be kind of short, sorry. And sorry for such a long wait D:>
> 
> Anyways, please comment and leave a kudos maybe! :DDD Lots of love!!! <3
> 
> PS - I was lazy with the proofreading. Please point out any and all mistakes, or things you're confused on. PLEASE, tell me if something is confusing you!
> 
> Thanks /again/ for reading! Look out for chapter 3!
> 
> (( Hmu on Tumblr ^0^): idiocyonaplate.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> I need a better title for this -3-);;;


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